This invention relates to toys.
More particularly, the invention relates to a toy for an animal.
In a further respect, the invention relates to an animal toy which when thrown can bounce erratically, which minimizes the probability of harm to an animal trying to catch a toy which has been thrown, which is symmetrical but is shaped to include points at varying distances away from the center of the toy to enable the toy to bounce erratically, which is permanently sealed so that the toy repeatedly compressively elastically deforms and bends in the same predictable manner, which includes a soft fabric outer surface that compresses to absorb blows and soften the impact when the toy hits an animal or other surface, and which can withstand being bitten or chewed by a dog and continue to function.
A wide variety of animal toys are known. One kind of toy is made of hard rubber and comes in a variety of shapes. For example, a dog bone made of hard, tough rubber has long been sold in retail outlets. A hard, tough rubber is utilized to make it difficult for a dog to chew through the bone. The rubber also adds weight to the toy, permitting the toy to be thrown long distances. Finally, the rubber material used to make the toy also enables the toy bone to bounce into the air. Dogs like chasing bouncing toys. While this type of toy is without question resistant to be damaged or chewed up, the toy is also dangerous. If the toy when thrown bounces into a dog, the toy can, due to its hardness, injure the animal. Worse, if the bone is thrown in the air and hits the dog straight away before the bone hits the ground, the dog can also be injured.
Animal toys can be constructed by attaching sections of felt fabric to the outer surface of a rubber shell such that the fabric sections are separated by a seam or strip of rubber or other polymer. In practice, the fabric sections are adhered or otherwise fastened to the rubber shell such that the edge of one piece of fabric is adjacent the edge of a second piece of fabric. The adjacent fabric edges define a rough seam line. A strip of rubber tape is attached to the pieces of fabric such that the tape covers the seam line. After the tape is attached, the entire rubber shell--fabric piece--rubber tape assembly is placed in a mold to melt and cure the rubber tape. A particular problem associated with this procedure is that the edges of the top and bottom portions of the mold tend to engage and stick to the rubber tape, pulling a large portion of the tape off the seam line.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved dog""s toy which can be thrown a long distance to bounce in an erratic pattern liked by dogs while producing only a small risk that the toy will injure a dog. It would also be highly desirable to provide an improved method for molding a dog""s toy to minimize the quantity of rubber tape pulled off the seam line of the toy during molding of the toy to soften and cure the rubber tape.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the instant invention to provide an improved toy.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved animal toy which reduces the risk that the toy will, when thrown, injure an animal chasing the toy.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved animal toy which elastically compresses and bends to minimize the risk of injury to an animal.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of producing an animal toy which reduces the likelihood that polymer seam tape will significantly damaged during molding.